NORWALK, Calif. -- Vanguard women's wrestling finished second today at the Cerritos Open, finishing with 198 points. While the Menlo Oaks won the event with 205.5 points, the Lions knocked off plenty of MC wrestlers and netted four first-place finishes. Abbeygael Cabuag, Angie Dill, Lily Avalos, and Lily El-Masri all took gold and the Lions had eight other placers in one of the most successful days in program history.
What Happened? Cabuag beat Jessica Hong of Cerritos via pin in the first period and then breezed through Angelique Cervantes of Menlo with a 12-2 technical fall victory to reach the 101-pound finale. There, it took just less than 90 seconds for her to pin Rebekah Jimenez of Cerritos to take the gold for VU. Viviana Davalos dropped her first match to Jimenez but got injured in the process, as she could not give it a go in her consolation bout.
Dill also shot threw the field, as she claimed gold in the 109-pound bracket. She blanked Mollie Jimenez of East Los Angeles College 11-0 and then racked up a 12-1 technical fall victory over Tiffany Yanagi of Mount San Antonio College. Just 1:53 into the title fight, Dill made a pin of Menlo's Micaela Correa to give Vanguard its second first-place finish of the day.
At 116 pounds, Jade Cabrera took down Sabrina Sinohui 12-2 to open her run and then tussled with Jasi Oleson of UNLV. Despite facing NCAA DI competition, Cabrera did not look out of place. She went the distance with Oleson, but it would be the UNLV wrestler who got the final takedown to sneak off with a 5-3 decision win. Cabrera then fought hard against Samira Mason of Delta College but fell 10-0. Julie Garcia had her best outing as a Lion, though she started her run by getting pinned by Satira Sohal of Cerritos. Undeterred, Garcia beat Karla Baeze of UNLV 11-0 before falling to Oleson via pin in the second period. But she would place fifth because Sohal got injured in her previous battle, giving Garcia her first placing at Vanguard.
Leilani Lazaro beat Delilah Felix-Lopez of ELAC to open her journey in the 123-pound bracket but then lost 9-4 to Haley Narahara of Menlo. She responded by blanking Herminia Estrada of Mt. SAC 10-0 to set up a rematch with Felix-Lopez. It was a tight engagement for third, as the duo exchanged takedowns during regulation. But Felix-Lopez found a couple of scoring moves in the second to win 9-6, though Lazaro placed a very respectable fourth. Mya Crespo was also in the group and lost 10-0 to Narahara in her first bout. She bounced back with a 6-4 decision win over Brianna Bouts of Ottawa University (Kan.). However, she would then fall 10-0 to Estrada.
Lily Avalos made it three top prizes for the Blue and Gold as she cruised through the 130-pound bracket. She beat Isabella Salgado-Aguila of Simpson via pin 1:09 into the first period and then silenced AJ Guizar of ELAC 10-0. She pinned Cindy Zepeda of Menlo to reach the final, where she pitched a 10-0 shutout of MC's Carmella Foley to take first. Elena Ramirez beat Josefina Jimenez 53 seconds into the first period to start her venture but then lost in a high-scoring bout 20-12 to Jaylene Martinez. Landing in the consolation side of the bracket, Ramirez fired up the engine to make back-to-back second-period pins of Isabella Sanchez (Cerritos) and Ariana Valdivia (ELAC). She then got to the third-place fight because her next opponent got injured, bringing her against Megan Irwin of Mt. SAC. Ramirez gave it her all but Irwin made a pin in the first period, with Ramirez ending fourth.
Piper Hall was locked in on Saturday, as she ran off three straight wins to open the 136-pound bracket. She pinned Britney Parga-Lopez of ELAC but then ended regulation tied 6-6 with Aneka Mathews of Menlo. However, Hall took the win via tiebreakers and advanced to take on Emma Velasco of Arizona State (club team). Hall won 10-3 to set up a meeting with Samantha Barragan of Menlo in the championship matchup. Hall gave a good accounting of herself but would fall 13-2 in the title fight to finish second.
Vanguard's Charlize Jewell and Jo Snider were in the 143-pound bracket and Jewell picked up a 10-0 technical fall victory over Isabel Guerrero to start her day. Alexandra Lopez knocked her off by that same score but Jewell shone in the consolation bracket, beating Iyanla Thomas of Ottawa via pin in the first period and then pinning teammate Snider in the next bout. The third-place encounter saw Jewell face Elizabeth Carrillo of Mt. SAC and while Jewell fought hard, she could not overcome Carrillo, who made a pin in the first period. But the Lions picked up more team points with the fourth-place result, and added in more thanks to Snider, who placed fifth. She lost her first bout to Thomas 14-9 and then fell to Jewell. But that got her to the fifth-place dual and she blanked Janie Banducci of Bakersfield College 10-0 to claim a placing finish.
At 155 pounds, Mariz Soliman beat Natalie Flores of Cerritos 11-0 and then pinned Hailey-Ja Omoso of Simpson in 89 seconds to reach the title fight. There she faced ASU's Jessica Mendez and while Soliman gave it her all, Mendez prevailed 10-0, with Soliman finishing with the silver.
El-Masri and Abena Adu were in the 170-pound bracket and El-Masri crushed the field. She beat Liliana Reyes of Cerritos 11-0 in her first bout, pinned Jessica Mendieta of Menlo in her second, and cruised to a gold finish by beating Sierra Mefford of Palomar College 12-1. Adu almost made it to the second spot on the podium, as she started her run with a late pin of Vida Beckel of Cerritos. While Nikita Dhaliwal of MC knocked her off 11-1, Adu responded brilliantly by winning 10-0 over Darlene Contreras of Cerritos. She then pinned both Valentia Ortega of Delta College and Mendieta to reach the tussle for second. It was a rematch against Dhaliwal and though Adu again threw everything she could at the Oak, Dhaliwal would win 12-1, with Adu netting third.
What was Said? "It was a fun two days of wrestling," said Head Coach Joe Evano. "I'm so proud of this team and the growth that our athletes have shown over the season. On to conference. It really is the most wonderful time of the year."
What is Next? The Lions will compete at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships on February 25 at Menlo.
